Abriachan

Human settlement in Scotland

Abriachan

Location within the Inverness area

OS grid referenceNH557352Council area

Highland

Lieutenancy area

Inverness

CountryScotlandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPostcode districtIV3 8Dialling code01463PoliceScotlandFire Scottish AmbulanceScottish UK Parliament

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey

Scottish Parliament

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

List of places: UK; Scotland

57°23′05″N 4°24′04″W / 57.3847°N 4.4012°W / 57.3847; -4.4012

Abriachan (/əˈbriːəxən/; Gaelic: Obar Itheachan), is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is situated high above the western shore of Loch Ness, 15 km to the south-west of the city of Inverness. The village has a population of approximately 120. There are no schools in Abriachan, so children travel by bus into Inverness or to Dochgarroch or Tomnacross for their education.

At the bottom of the Abriachan hill, where the Kilianan stream meets Loch Ness, is Abriachan Garden Nursery, with a woodland walk and plant selling area.

GPost office

Abriachan post office opened on 25 July 1882,^[1] and for many years from the early 1960s was run by Katharine Stewart and her family. An account of life in the Highlands, and of its postal services, was published in 1997.^[2] The post office closed on 8 April 2008.

Abriachan Forest

Abriachan Forest is an upland area of conifer forest and open hillside, covering 536 hectares, It was owned by the Forestry Commission until 1998, when it was sold to Abriachan Forest Trust for £152,000.^[3] Abriachan Forest Trust is a community group formed to buy and manage the forest, and they are working to encourage recreational and educational use of the forest. They have developed a number of paths and mountain bike trails around the area, including the Great Glen Way long-distance path passing through.

Notable residents

John Somerville, accordion player with Croft No. Five and Box Club
Katharine Stewart, author of A Croft in the Hills
John Barr, international shinty player
Gregor Borland, Internationally acclaimed Scottish Fiddle player. Also part of folk trio [Other Roads].

References

^ Mackay, James A. (1989) Scottish Post Offices, p. 28, Dumfries: published by the author, ISBN 0-906440-48-3
^ Stewart, Katharine (1997) The Post in the Hills, 161 pp. Edinburgh: The Mercat Press, ISBN 1-873644-74-4
^ Matheson, Christine. "Case Study Four: Abriachan Forest Trust". Social Land Ownership. Caledonia Centre for Social Development. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2012.